Wednesday, January 9, 2013

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, January 9, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:


State schools chief urges cut in number of tests next year




Education Headlines

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Long Beach school board votes to slash AVID college prep program

A popular Long Beach Unified college prep program will enroll 260 fewer high school students next year and will cease to exist at middle and K-8 schools under the latest budget cuts.

Petition error delays push for special election of Fresno Unified trustee

An error by the Fresno County Office of Education has complicated plans to force a special election in the McLane High trustee area. County Schools Superintendent Larry Powell said Tuesday his office erred in advising petitioners about the number of signatures needed for an election to be called.

Longtime El Dorado County superintendent of schools to retire

Vicki Barber will retire at the end of June, after 30 years with the El Dorado County Office of Education, according to a statement released this afternoon.

After indictment, San Ysidro plans ethics training

The San Ysidro School District governing board held a special closed meeting Tuesday night, presumably to discuss the fate of indicted Superintendent Manuel Paul, but ended up not taking any action.

SD Unified approves restoring some H.R. jobs

A divided San Diego school board voted Tuesday to spend $600,000 to add five management jobs to its human resources department, an unbudgeted expense that comes amid ongoing fiscal uncertainty in a district that has not yet ruled out layoffs for next year.

School district, teachers reach agreement

The Menifee Union School District and its teachers’ union have a reached an agreement on a contract for 2012-13 and it appears unlikely the teachers will have to take any furlough days this school year.

Second phase of L.A. arts fundraising plan begins

The "Art Matters" campaign has brought in more than $750,000 in the last three months for arts in the public schools.

New student tests to focus less on memory

In just two years, California students, along with millions of their peers across the country, will start taking new computerized standardized tests that require them to write, think, analyze and solve problems - a dramatic departure from the fill-in-the-bubble tests in place for decades.

California may ditch fill-in-the-bubble tests

California schools are poised to put those ubiquitous, multiple-choice Scantron tests in the education graveyard, alongside chalkboards and typewriters. The envisioned replacements for such standardized testing are computerized exams that emphasize critical thinking over memorization, complete with essay questions.

State schools chief urges cut in number of tests next year

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson says second-graders would not be tested in math and English, and most high school tests would be dropped. The Los Angeles Unified School District chief expresses reservations.

San Diego State hosts school shooting survival training

Southland school officials get instruction on surviving rampages such as those at Sandy Hook Elementary and Columbine High School.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013

In wake of Connecticut school shooting, LAPD begins campus patrols

Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department and other law enforcement agencies stepped up their presence at school campuses Monday in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Connecticut.

Long Beach school board to consider cuts to AVID college prep program

In its regular meeting Tuesday, the LBUSD board will consider a plan to reduce the high school AVID program by 13 course sections, about half of those now available, and eliminate the program in its K-8.

New statewide test to be proposed Tuesday

California's top educator will unveil his proposal for a new statewide test at a press conference on Tuesday.